Question

Henry was studying two populations of the same species of lizards. One population lived on an island and the other lived on the mainland. Both populations were affected by a hurricane that hit the island and the mainland with equal force. A year later, Henry was testing the gene frequency and saw a decrease in genetic variation in the island species, but not in the mainland species. Which best describes a conclusion he might have reached? Gene flow greatly affects small populations, but large populations can recover. Genetic drift greatly affects small populations, but large populations can recover. Gene flow greatly affects large populations, but small populations can recover. Genetic drift greatly affects large populations, but small populations can recover.

Answer 1

Genetic drift greatly affects small populations, but large populations can recover

Answer 2

Gene drift greatly affects small populations, but large populations can recover.

What is a gene drift:

A gene drift is the different rate of the gene variants of a species, to explain it in a simple way.

According tio Wikipedia:

"When there are few copies of an allele, the effect of genetic drift is larger, and when there are many copies the effect is smaller."

So in your case, in mainland, where there where more individuals, recovery was possible but in the island, where there was a limited amount of individuals, recovery wasn't possible.

Hope it helped,

BioTeacher101